Thole Likely Out For Entire 2012 Season

Sorry buddy.

It’s baaaaaaaaaaack…the dastardly bone bruise finds another unsuspecting Met victim in Josh Thole.

Does this sound familiar?

“As the night progressed, it was getting better.”-Josh Thole

kind of similar to this,

May 11, 2011

“Hopefully be back soon.”-Ike Davis

or my personal favorite,

June 22, 2009

“We hope that it’s only two weeks, that’s what we hope.”  Omar Minaya on Carlos Beltran

I guess we can be thankful this is in Josh’s hand and not in his leg like his Met predecessors.

Aw, who am I kidding?  See you in 2013 Josh.

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Quite The Intriguing Team

You have dealt with injuries to all of your star players and a number of supporting cast members.  You survive the endless talk about losing the most exciting player in the game.  You have been inundated with question after question about where one of your best players is going to be traded since the All-Star Break.  Said player is finally traded.

What do you do?

Sweep a team that was in the playoffs last year and is in contention again this year in their home ball park in a four game series.  Why the hell not.

Four days ago I had accepted that this team was officially in rebuilding mode for 2012. Now I find myself fascinated by the following questions:

• Can this team really shock the baseball world and make a run at the post season?
• Is Lucas Duda for real?
• How long was Wright’s back hurting him and can we expect this type of production now that he is healthy?
• Is Bobby Parnell coming of age?
• Can Jason Isringhausen hold up as the team’s closer for the rest of the season?
• How can this team win when Jose Reyes has one of his worst offensive series of the season (3 for 19)?
• Why is it that we still have not learned the reason for Mike Pelfrey’s excessive finger/palm licking?
• Why do managers, coaches, and training staff still have to wear uniform pants?
• Is Ike Davis still alive?
• Why is midwestropolitan.com this awesome?
• When will Major League Baseball change its archaic blackout restrictions for television coverage?
• Did the Wilpons finally learn to keep their traps shut after the Fred Fiasco at the beginning of the year?
• Is today’s game the mark of Jason Bay finally breaking out of his bay? (This question was more for you, because I have already trained myself not to think about it any longer this season).

Regardless of how many of these questions we get answered, I am happy to say I am anticipating an entertaining remainder of the 2011 season.  I still doubt it will end with a post season appearance, but at least it will keep me from re-organizing my sock drawer or alphabetizing my spice rack.

Missing Gloves

Just a quick observation for your Sunday morning…

Don’t mistake this for belly aching, as the Bisons have done a formidable job and it has been fun as hell to watch them play.  However, last night’s game was a prime example that we not only miss Ike Davis and Jose Reyes’ bats, we also miss their defensive skills.  There were three double plays last night that I argue would have been turned had Jose and Ike been in the game.

Sometimes we forget about just how good Ike Davis is at first base, especially picking low throws out of the dirt.  I’m not knocking Lucas Duda, he is trying to play in a spot that is unnatural for him, but not gloving a low throw from Ruben Tejada in the first inning was costly.

Jose’s cannon masquerading as an arm makes up for a number of things.  Justin Turner has always been a hair slow on the turn, it was hard to notice with Jose firing the ball to first.  He is also quicker at starting a double play than Ruben Tejada.

Speaking of Ruben, he seems to be better suited for second base defensively now that I have had a chance to watch play a string of games at short.  This is a bit surprising to me knowing his natural position is at shortstop.  There were a couple of times that he seemed a step out of place last night, particularly on the missed tag.

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Chasing The Braves

News today of Chipper Jones heading to the DL got me to thinking.  Dangerous, I know.

What is going to have to happen for the Mets to actually catch the Braves in the second half of the season?

First and foremost, the Mets are going to have to play better at home.  A lot has been said about how this current group genuinely enjoys being together, and it has been suggested this is a reason why they play well on the road.  Somehow they have to figure out how to bottle that attitude when they are at Citi Field.

Larry going down for a few weeks is certainly an added bonus for the Mets.  However, their offense is not Atlanta’s strength, as they are 17th in the majors in runs scored and 26th in terms of team average (the Mets are tenth and a surprising fifth respectively).

More importantly, Jair Jurrjens or Tommy Hanson will need to cool off a bit.  They are a formidable pair at the top of the Braves rotation and Jurrjens has been absolutely lights out this season.

The Mets are going to have to take advantage of their nine remaining head to head games, all of which are in August and September. The Amazin’s have proven they are capable of beating the Braves with wins in the last two series.

One would also think that the Mets will catch a break in terms of at least two of the four stars that are currently injured (Wright, Reyes, Davis, and Santana) and they can provide significant second half reinforcements.

Terry Collins will have to continue to out manage Fredi Gonzalez.  It has been a long time since we have been able to say this, but the Mets have a better skipper at the helm then their division rivals.  Fredi Gonzalez has the tendency to make some head scratching in-game decisions.

I may regret saying this, but I fully expect the Mets to exceed expectations in the second half.  Don’t take that statement out of context, I am not saying they will be in the post season.  I just believe they will not collapse and will continue to compete every series.

There is a different feel to this team.  They have established they can hit for average, play solid defense, and throw out a quality start every night.  More importantly, they seem to be enjoying themselves each night.

Regardless of what transpires, I am grateful that I am writing about chasing a playoff slot rather than discussing 2012 and beyond.

 

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Just Stay Afloat

Only three games left prior to the All-Star Break.  My, how time flies.

It is realistic to believe the Mets could drop two of three in San Francisco prior to this well deserved break.  You know what?  I would be okay with that.

If you would have told me at the beginning of the year that the Mets would be one game over .500 considering the following factors I would have laughed in your face heartily:

• Johan Santana still has yet to pitch
• David Wright has played in only 39 games
• Ike Davis has played in only 36 games
• Angel Pagan missed 30 games
• Jose Reyes is on the DL with a bum hamstring
• Chris Young is out for the season after only four starts
• Jason Bay has been non-existent for a vast majority of the season
• Tom has yet to don the over sized head of the Mr. Met suit

I am confident they will find a way to get a win in San Francisco.  Much has been said about the three starters the Giants will throw at the Mets. Yes they are formidable, but they are human and can be beat.   As a matter of fact, all three (Lincecum, Vogelsong, and Cain) haven’t exactly thrown no hit ball in their last couple of starts.

The icing on the cake scenario would put the Mets three games over .500 after figuring out a way to stun the World Champs with a road series win.

Avoiding a sweep is paramount.  It would be somewhat deflating to find the Mets a game under .500 after all they have accomplished the last few weeks with all of the challenges thrown at them.

All Things Considered…..

It has been fun to watch this current group scratch and claw for every win.  But its games like these that make me miss Ike Davis and David Wright.  You see, power in your lineup affords you more room to make mistakes.

As I have said before this current lineup has to be practically perfect to win, especially in close games.  Giving up potential runs because of idiotic base running blunders doesn’t exactly help the cause.

It’s difficult for this team to make one critical base running mistake.  Tonight’s contest showcased two base running errors.

In the top of the fifth Daniel Murphy’s aggressiveness got the best of him as he tried to break to third early on a bunt attempt by Mike Pelfrey.  The only problem was that Pelfrey missed and Pirates catcher Michael McKenry fired a dart down to second to pick off Murph after an awkward rundown.

The second gaffe that we were treated to was yet another sacrifice fly double play brought to us by Lucas Duda.  In Duda’s defense, there was some question as to whether or not Jose Reyes’ liner to left field had hit the ground.  At any rate, Duda was doubled off of first and the Mets found themselves without a tying runner on base.

All things considered, I am still in a pretty positive state of mind regarding the Mets.  Big Pelf threw his second consecutive quality start, they continue to give themselves a chance in every game they play, and they are still only 5.5 games behind in the Wild Card Chase.

National League
	W	L	GB	Left
Milwaukee Brewers	38	29	—	95
Atlanta Braves	38	29	—	95
St. Louis Cardinals	38	29	—	95
Arizona Diamondbacks	36	30	1.5	96
Cincinnati Reds	34	33	4.0	95
Florida Marlins	32	32	4.5	98
Pittsburgh Pirates	32	33	5.0	97
New York Mets	32	34	5.5	96
Colorado Rockies	31	34	6.0	97
Los Angeles Dodgers	31	36	7.0	95
Washington Nationals	30	36	7.5	96
San Diego Padres	29	38	9.0	95
Chicago Cubs	26	39	11.0	97
Houston Astros	25	42	13.0	9

 

Why Wait For Re-Evaluation of Ike’s Injury?

So Ike Davis may be out until the All-Star break.  That’s just great (sarcastic font).  It is certainly a bummer, a kick in the pants, a slap in the face.  You get the point.

One thing is for sure.  I will expect guys to be out a month or two minimum the next time one of the Mets goes down with a bone bruise.  It seems to be a nasty cuss of an injury and any prediction of the player’s return is a guess at best.

I do have a simple question to ask.  Don’t mistake this for complaining or bashing the medical staff.  The source of my inquiry is derived from my complete lack of knowledge of the injury review process.  So here goes.

Why wait three weeks to re-evaluate Ike’s ankle?  Why not a week or two?  It seems to me he could have been back in his boot already and we’d be closer to getting him out of said boot.

Who knows?  This could completely be a financial issue.  As far as I know, MRI’s aren’t cheap.

Update:  The Readers Have Spoken

We received some great feedback over at the Midwestropolitan Facebook Page so I figured it would be fun to share with everyone, along with my comments of course.

The Achilles tendon is nothing to fool with.. sometimes it is better to break the ankle..it heals better…this guy is our future..do not rush him back and jeopardize it……Michael S.

Great point Michael.  I completely agree with you in that the ankle/Achilles Tendon area is not something to fool with or push.  I certainly do not condone pushing Ike to play when he isn’t healthy, because I 100% agree with you in that the Mets should not jeopardize his future.

The source of my frustration stems from the fact that Ike spent three weeks “rehabbing” his injury rather than staying off it completely.  My thought was why not re-examine him earlier to get him off of the injury a week or two ago rather than waiting three whole weeks.

Fellow Midwestropolitan, Barb M., shared an article from Livestrong.Com further educating us on what exactly bone bruises are.  Here are the highlights:

• Bruised bones are extremely painful and, unfortunately, the pain lasts and lasts. The younger and more in shape you are the sooner the bruise tends to heal. The amount of time varies, just as the degree of bruising can.
• Bone bruises don’t show up on X-rays [only on MRIs]

and the scariest one which coincides with other articles I have read….

• Scientists investigate the possibility that bone bruises are predecessors of future problems.

Thanks Michael S. and Barb M.!

Don’t forget, you can follow us on TWITTER too!

 

 

And The Hits Just Keep On Coming

News from our favorite franchise continues to be chipper (sarcastic font).  The Mets are now saying Ike Davis is not progressing as they had hoped.

I’m not surprised.  Don’t mistake this for a “everything goes wrong for the Mets” statement.  If you recall, last year the Midwestropolitan research team took a look at bone bruises when Carlos Beltran was dealing with his injury.  They discovered that:

Bone bruises take weeks or even months to heal.  It seemed when Beltran was first diagnosed with these issues everyone focused on the weeks versus the months.

Let me warn you, I’m not a doctor so don’t take this as Gospel, but I have to believe that a bone bruise in the ankle is less troublesome than one in the knee.

Let’s hope I’m right on that point.

The Mets Don’t Suck. The Astros Do.

After watching this series I think it is fair to say we have learned one simple, irrefutable fact.  The Mets don’t suck.

I’m sure that many are clambering to disagree right now.  Before you send me e-mails filled with personal insults and threats of physical violence, let me make a  few points that are chock full of logic.

The Mets are two games below .500 which means they are two games below being an average team.  Two games below average does not equal sucking.

A team that sucks does not win three straight series (two of which on the road).  Nor does it go 7-3 in its last ten games finding itself 4.5 games back in the Wild Card standings.

The Astros, on the other hand, suck.  At least they did in this series.  They played absolutely horrible defense and at times seemed like they had much better things to do (see the Mets theft of home Little League style in the fifth inning today).

I know average isn’t exactly something to write home about, and I’m not saying I find it to be an acceptable stopping point.  It is however, not a horrible  spot to be in considering the financial and roster challenges the Mets organization currently faces.

When you stop and think about it, 19-21 is actually amazing in a way.  After all,

• Johan Santana has not pitched a single inning this season.
• David Wright and Jason Bay are hitting .226 and .216 respectively.
• Angel Pagan has been non-existent (literally).
• R.A. Dickey still has yet to find his knuckle ball.
• Willie Harris and Scott Hairston, two players that were signed to create a solid bench,  have been absolutely dreadful
• Chris Young is out for the season after only pitching 24 innings.
• Along with Pagan, Pedro Beato, Ike Davis, and Bobby Parnell are all currently on the DL.

Frankly, I  believe we should be happy with where the Mets stand with regard to their record.  It says something about the moxie of this team to be able to win of late.

Don’t mistake this as settling.  As long as I feel the Mets are working towards becoming a franchise that will be perennial contenders, I am going to be content.  Eventually, continued improvement will result in the Mets obtaining that goal.

So for those fans that fill up comment sections about how bad the Mets suck every time they lose, grow up.  Realize that in the real world, building a succesful organization from top to bottom takes more than two weeks.

In the meantime, try to enjoy the 2011 Mets as much as possible.  They could have mailed it in a long time ago.  Hell, imagine what could happen if the Mets hang around and they get some guys back, or Wright and Bay start hitting.

Ike’s Injury & Wright’s Responsibility

“I didn’t know what it was, because at the time there was a lot of pain everywhere, but it’s more like the back side of my lower leg. … I actually don’t think it’s going to be that long. They’re going to see how I feel in the morning. If it’s really bothering me, maybe an MRI. But I think there’s a small chance I play tomorrow.” – Ike Davis

Maybe it’s the recent history of injuries turning into the worst possible scenario for the Mets.  Maybe it’s Ike’s description above (particularly the part about “pain everywhere”).  But I have to admit, I am going to be a tad bit nervous about Ike’s health until I see him play in the next game.

I apologize for being a Negative Nancy, but this team is teetering on the edge of falling out of any realistic chance of contention.
If this injury turns out to be more than a day-to-day thing I would say it is the proverbial nail in the 2011 coffin.

Fan Reaction

After my initial “Oh shit!” reaction, I sat back and took the pulse of the Met fan base via Twitter (shameless plug, follow Midwestropolitan here) and other various comment sections.

I truly enjoyed the fans that went at it from the sarcastic humor stand point.  There of course were the fans pining for information as to how bad the injury was.

Then there were the fans that struck  me as unhappy about everything in life.  I literally felt their negativity oozing through the computer screen.  I hope they didn’t send a nasty email to the Mets front office.  Nobody wants that.

I Hate To Break It To You, But Everything Isn’t David Wright’s Fault

Lastly, I am growing extremely weary of the “kick David Wright while he is down” crowd.  As I have said in the past, D Wright’s strikeouts can frustrate me just as much as the next guy.  However, blaming him for Ike’s injury is comical and sad all at the same time.

Watch the play closely angry little people.

You are looking at an extremely high pop up placed in the Bermuda Triangle of the infield.  The pitcher has to come off the mound, and both corners have an equal distance to traverse to get to it.

Hell, you could even hear both Wright and Davis call for it simultaneously.  Sometimes shit happens gang.  Ike and Wright were trying to take charge and we wound up with a collision.  Would you rather everyone involved stand there and look at each other while the ball drops safely in the grass?

Be frustrated when he K’s.  Be frustrated when he throws a ball away.  Be frustrated when he leaves a runner at third with less than two outs.  Let’s stop blaming Wright for everything wrong with the New York Mets.  Get a grip.

If you can’t get a handle on this, stop watching the Mets and go back to your daily lives of kicking dogs and old people.